


Serendipity

by depresso_bakugou



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Friends to Lovers, Immortal Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco, M/M, Mentioned Monkey D. Luffy, Minor Izou/Thatch (One Piece), Soulmate-Identifying Marks, i love hurting and confusing my boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:27:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28300869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/depresso_bakugou/pseuds/depresso_bakugou
Summary: Marco had very few tally marks on his body. It had been something he accepted long ago.Ace had tallies littering his arms, though he liked to pretend they weren't there nonetheless.(Soulmate AU where anytime your soulmate says "I love you" a tally is marked on your body)
Relationships: Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Portgas D. Ace, Izou & Portgas D. Ace & Thatch, Izou/Thatch (One Piece)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 192





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas all! Thought to post the first part of this and hopefully have the second part by the new year :) Enjoy!

Macro sighed, as he overlooked the deck and ocean surrounding them from his place in the bird’s nest. His eyes slowly moved from the endless waves and sunset to his noisy crewmates below.

His eyes were immediately drawn to one orange clad pirate, who looked to be telling some overzealous story. A small smile and softened eyes fell across Marco’s face as he watched Ace’s arms wave around throughout his story. The way his eyes lit up as those around him were just as interested and entertained as he himself was. The way every once in a while, his eyes would flick up towards Marco’s place in the bird’s nest before going back to those around him.

A soft breeze brought him out of his thoughts. Mumbling to himself of unfinished tasks, Marco turned back to the book laid in front of him and immersed himself into its content.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

The sun had set and he had been on one of the last passages of the book when he heard shuffling from his left and looked up.

“Hey Marc!” Thatch yelled as he vaulted himself over the edge of the bird’s nest. “Whatcha doing up here...,” he looked around, “Alone?”

Thatch made his way over to Marco, not hesitating to grab the book he held and skim the contents, not even pausing to actually read it, as Marco watched him.

After a few moments of Thatch’s silent flipping of pages, he looked up and repeated his question to Marco, ignoring the deadpan expression his face held.

“I wanted some peace and quiet to finish some work, yoi. But it seems like that won’t be possible anymore.”

Thatch laughed lightly, giving Marco his book back.

“Well, I just wanted to come up and get you for dinner, since you seem to need the reminder.”

Marco sighed as he collected the few books and journals he had brought with him. Ever since Izou had discovered Marco’s tendency to skip meals unless reminded, each meal one of the commanders or members of his division would come get him, whether or not he was already on his way.

“Yeah, I’m coming, yoi.” Marco said as Thatch grabbed him by his arm and they made their way down to the deck.

Thatch and himself greeted those they passed while walking to the dining hall til they got to the commanders’ table. Immediately Thatch detached himself from Marco to begin a conversation with Izou. Free from Thatch’s grip, Marco was able to sit and be with his thoughts, even with the surrounding noise.

His eyes flickered around the table’s wood design as his thoughts organized themselves. A plate was shoved over the wood in front of him, bringing his attention to it.

Marco took his time to look at the plate, raise an eyebrow, and move his head up to look towards the second culprit to interrupt him today.

Directly in front of him, with his arm still extended from holding the plate, was Ace’s smiling face. Marco lazily watched him. He stared, even looking him up and down, waiting for the reaction he knew would come.

“C’mon Marco! Eat! We don’t drag you here to just sit!”

The other commanders, having heard this, reacted with small laughs here and there. Marco let his eyes fall to their _deadly, yet calm_ look as Thatch dubbed it.

“No one is dragging me here, Ace,” Marco said as he began to put things on his plate to eat.

Once again, the commanders laughed as they dug into their own dinners. Marco let his eyes quickly flick up towards Ace, seeing him focused on the food he was inhaling, before bringing them back to his own plate.

Conversations were held around him, some he partook in, as his family ate their dinner. Even with his unintentional avoidance of dinner, _whether or not his siblings believed him_ , he couldn’t help but enjoy watching his family interact with each other. There were so many people, along with his responsibilities as First Mate and a Commander, made these moments in between the work worth it.

“So Ace,” Izou said as he set down the drink in his hand. Marco knew that look in his eyes, Izou wanted to know something and wouldn’t stop til he knew.

“Have you met them yet?”

Looking slightly confused with the question, Ace set down the food he had been eating and made a questioning noise, as his mouth was still full.

Huffing a laugh, Izou gestured towards his bare arms, fully of tallies no one had questioned, til now.

“You have quite a few tallies. So, have you met them yet?”

Ace swallowed his food and looked Izou straight in the eyes saying, “No. And I don’t care if I ever do anyway.”

“Really?” Thatch said as he unintentionally gripped Izou’s hand.

Most people waited for the day they would discover their soulmate, though not all soulmates stayed together. The knowledge that once the words “I love you” or some iteration of it were said, that a tally would appear was powerful in itself. At least, that was how Marco had seen it through his life.

Having lived as long as he did, the majority of his life his skin had been clear of any tallies, except for _August_ , though that had been long ago and Marco left the memories buried in his mind. The love he had for his family once he met Pops was enough to fill some of the void that seemed to be left. That changed during the last twenty years or so of his long life. Even though they were far and few between, the knowledge that he at least had _another_ soulmate brought him enough joy.

Marco knew he would remember the day he got that first tally for the rest of his life.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

_He had been flying above the deck, clearing his mind and enjoying the freedom of flight when he began to feel a small burning pain on his arm. Confused by the seemingly randomness of it and the feeling of any sort of pain lingering, he landed on the deck and transformed him back to his human form._

_The pain had left by now, yet plain as day on his forearm was a solid, black tally._

_Marco’s eyes widened, and he was frozen staring at his arm._

_An arm was thrown around his neck, making him almost fall forward with the movement._

_“What’s got you so unsettled?” Thatch questioned, looking Marco up and down for injuries he knew wouldn’t be there._

_Without saying a word, Marco lifted his arm towards Thatch waiting for him to react._

_After a few seconds of silence, Thatch put the pieces together of what had happened and a huge grin broke out on his face._

_Grabbing Marco and hugging him tight, Thatch whooped and cheered, those around them not questioning the interaction._

_He let go of Marco and immediately turned towards Pops._

_“Thatch waitー”, Marco tried to stop Thatch from yelling across the deck, but was out yelled by Thatch’s exclamation of,_

_“POPS, MARCO GOT A TALLY!”_

_The crew, like Thatch, took a moment before they celebrated what was said._

_On his way over to Pops, Marco got pat on the back, hugs, and congratulations thrown from every direction. The smile on his face was uncontrollable in the best way. As he approached Pops, their eyes met and the grin on his face set into a scrunched up smile with his eyes filled with joy. He held out his forearm, glancing at it to confirm its existence for himself again._

_Pops laughed and brought Marco close to him for a hug, his back to the other still celebrating crewmates._

_After a few moments, he let go of Marco and they both looked out over the deck. Preparations for a party were being made, and Marco huffed a small laugh._

_“Do you think you will find them soon, son?” Pops asked quietly._

_“Who knows, yoi,” Marco said, lowering his head to watch the blue flames climbing up his arm. Even though they heal his physical injuries, the small tally was still just as bold and visible through his flames._

_“As long as you are content, that will be enough,” Pops said as he watched Marco and his flames._

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

They had a ridiculous party that night, thoughts of it still bringing a grin that Marco couldn’t hide to his face. Every little burn, and the tally that accompanied it since that day lit another spark of happiness in Marco, not for himself, but rather his soulmate.

Around him, the commanders continued trying to question Ace and his disregard for the tallies. Finally having enough, Marco lifted his head and let his eyes glance around before he got Ace’s attention. 

“Ace,” he said carefully watching the emotions Ace displayed due to the words of his siblings.

Though he wasn’t angry, at least outwardly, Ace had a tenseness around him and lacked his normal carefree expression. Instead, one of calmness and indifference replaced it. Ace turned from watching Thatch to Marco, a slight change barely noticeable through the small widening of eyes, like a small shock before reverting back.

“Yeah?” he said, watching Marco intently.

Marco let a smirk fill his face, “Don’t listen to these idiots, they just want to pry unnecessarily.”

“Hey!” Thatch protested, punching Marco’s arm.

“Don’t try to tell me you aren’t a lovesick fool, Thatch,” Marco said with a raised eyebrow and glance in Izou’s direction.

Thatch huffed and turned towards Izou who smiled before whispering something into his ear, making him laugh.

“These losers don’t bother me,” Ace smirked at the reactions he got, letting his eyes flick to Marco’s smile at him.

“Good. Well I’ll be going to finish my book, you’ll know where I am if you need me,” Marco said while he stood up and grabbed his discarded book.

Ace watched Marco walk out of the dining hall before turning to Izou’s staring face.

“Ace~…” Izou began slightly pushing Thatch away to scoot closer to the person in question. Izou’s expression morphed into one of surprise suddenly, saying “Did you justー”

Ace quickly cut Izou off by covering his mouth and tackling him to the ground. The dining hall quieted down to observe, before erupting with noise.

“Not. A. Word.” Ace said slowly while keeping his hand firmly over Izou’s mouth.

Izou’s face was unimpressed and once Ace reluctantly released him, he immediately grabbed Ace and stalked out of the dining hall, Thatch following them from behind. He dragged them till they reached the quietest place on the deck, the bird’s nest.

Letting Ace go, Izou turned around to face him, crossing his arms and lifting his eyebrow. Nothing was said, just Izou and Ace watching each other while Thatch flipped back and forth between watching each one.

The staring match was broken with Thatch’s voice, “So… what exactly is going on? Cause I’m a bit lost.”

Izou turned back to Ace and without saying a word gestured towards him to explain. Ace glared lightly and remained quiet.

Izou sighed, “If you don’t want me to say anything, at least explain it to Thatch, or _I_ will.” And share he would, Ace knew.

“Fine,” he grumbled before sitting down and running his hand through his hair. “I don’t even know where to start,” he said, mostly to himself.

“How about explaining what happened in the dining hall first for Thatch?” Izou suggested, getting an enthusiastic nod from Thatch.

Ace sighed, letting his eyes drift down to the wood on the deck. “Well, after you guys started bugging me about my tallies, I started to watch Marco, cause there was this _look_ on his face.” He scratched his head as he tried to think of how to explain what he did without giving himself away. “I was just curious since there seemed to be something he was thinking about, y’know? Anyway, after he told you,” he said, gesturing to Thatch, “to not be a ‘lovesick fool’, I got a tally.”

Ace held his arm out, with its new additional tally, waiting to see the reaction.

Izou, having known smiled softly.

Thatch continued to watch Ace’s arm, the quietest he had been all evening. After some time, his eyes raised to Ace’s, never losing his somewhat serious expression.

Done with the situation entirely, Ace began to shift his body, avoiding the eyes on him.

“So, are we done here?”

Thatch softly shook his head. “Ace, you aren’t going to say anything to him?”

He scoffed before going quiet again. “I already said it in the dining hall, I don’t care about any of that. This is just a coincidence, and that’s all.”

He watched Thatch’s serious face fall into a somber expression. With a quick glance to Izou, Thatch said, _“Ace_. Youー,” he sighed, “You got to tell him.”

“No, _I don’t_ ,” he said, glaring slightly at Thatch.

“It is obvious you two liked each other before knowing you were soulmates!” Izou exclaimed.

Ace stood up and turned to leave the bird’s nest, until he was grabbed by Thatch.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m leaving.” Ace said without turning around.

“Ace, were aren’t trying to force you into something you don’t want toー”

Ace whirled around, anger written across his. “So what, exactly, is all of this then? Cause it sounds a lot like you trying to get me to tell Marco. I _already_ told you that isn’t going to happen, so just drop it.”

And with that, Ace left Thatch and Izou in the bird’s nest.

“I know,” Izou said, laying a hand against Thatch’s outstretched arm.

“I just…” He lowered his arm and held onto Izou’s. “Marco has always wanted that type of love, y’know. We have that, a lot of other people have that, and he hasn’t had that in so long.”

“I know.” Izou repeated, pulling Thatch into a hug.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Ace shut his door, locking it, and sat down on his bed. He hadn’t even reacted when other crewmates tried to talk to him.

_What do I do?_ , he thought, laying down flat to watch his ceiling.

He knew that the relationship between him and Marco was different from the rest. The small touches they shared, the interactions they have. Neither had gone far enough to point it out, preferring to keep what they had. He didn’t want to lose that.

He didn’t want to lose Marco.

Raising his arms in front of his face, he counted each and every tally, already knowing how many there were, at the moment at least.

Eighty-seven.

They spread across his forearms for the world to see. Though there weren’t as many as some had, it was still more than enough. It took him so long to even begin to acknowledge them. 

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

_“Luffy would you stop?!” Ace said, once again hitting his brother’s arm away from him._

_“Let me see Ace!” Luffy exclaimed as he reached towards Ace._

_Ace let Luffy continue to reach for a few more minutes, before asking,_

_“What’s got you so interested in them now?”_

_“I don’t know,” Luffy said scratching his head. “You just get so many tallies and I don’t get that many…”_

_Ace sighed and ruffled Luffy’s head, smiling when he heard Luffy’s protests. After a second, he lowered his arm slowly and let Luffy graze his fingers across the marks. Though he didn’t care about them, seeing Luffy’s obvious interest in them brought a small smile to his face._

_“Hey Lu,” Ace said, bringing Luffy’s attention from his arm to look up at him. “Don’t worry, I know one day you’ll meet your soulmate and they adore you just as much as you’ll adore them.”_

_Luffy giggled, giving Ace a hug. Before letting go fully, Luffy smiled brightly saying, “Ace’s soulmate will give him all the love he deserves!”_

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Since that day, he acknowledged the marks more, instead of flat out ignoring them. He didn’t want someone to give him _the love he deserves_ . He was content with the life he had, with his now extended family. _That_ , was all the love he needed, all the love he deserved. He hadn’t done anything else to deserve more, especially to have someone like Marco love him.

Marco.

_Selfless_ Marco. _Caring_ Marco. All the things he wasn’t. All the good to balance all the bad he was. He couldn’t, _wouldn’t_ do that to Marco. So, he has decided to keep himself quiet about the tallies and his soulmate, till Izou, and now Thatch discovered what he already knew.

Ace sighed, whispering, “What am I supposed to do now?”

He could tell Marco, thus having Izou and Thatch back off him, or not tell him and wait for the shitstorm he knew was to come.

His thoughts were interrupted by a hesitant knock on his door. Groaning, Ace stood from his bed and opened his door to see a crestfallen Thatch looking back.

“Hey Ace. I just wanted to come by and apologize for what happened earlier,” he said, watching as Ace’s face remained neutral. A silent response, urging him to continue. “Soulmates and tallies are just something normally celebrated, and knowing that Marcoー”

Ace shushed him, pulling him into his room and shutting the door behind them. Thatch flinched at the quick movement, but relaxed after realizing what happened.

After a moment, Thatch perked up in worry, saying, “I’m sorry Ace! I didn’t even realize that you were that worried about someone hearing.”

Ace mumbled something Thatch couldn’t hear. After being asked to say it again, Ace huffed saying, “I’m not _worried_ about someone hearing. I just…”

Thatch waved his hands, a smile slowly growing on his face. “It’s fine. That’s how I was when I first found out Izou was my soulmate.”

Ace tilted his head, and with the encouragement of changing the topic to himself, Thatch began to tell the story of how Izou and him found out they were soulmates.

The initial burning of tallies when they were near each other, looking at each other when they thought no one saw, to Marco being the one to approach them, was the reason they discovered they were soulmates. Towards the end of the story, both Ace and Thatch had relaxed, laughing and smiling at the antics of those in the story.

“Since then, Izou and I have been inseparable and we ourselves try to help those who want to find their soulmates the way Marco helped us, whether intentional or not.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a moment before Thatch laughed to himself and began to get up.

“Well I mainly came by to apologize and then get you for dinner, but it seems a bit late for the latter. Oh well, I’ll just cook something up for the both of us.”

“Thatch,” Ace said, causing said person to pause at the door and turn back around.

“Yeah?”

“Why did you want me to tell Marco, apart from the obvious?”

Thatch watched Ace, seeing only true curiosity on his face.

“Well,” he started slowly inching back to the bed, “Do you want the short version or the long version?”

Ace’s deadpan expression was enough of a response for Thatch, causing him to release a small laugh, though not as loud as before.

“Marco is mysterious, as you have probably already guessed. Most of the crew, except Pops himself, know much of anything in Marco’s past. He is almost protective of it in a way, not really going into details. He brushes it off most of the time. But, as you can tell, tallies on a person are clear for anyone to see.”

Ace nodded, mostly to himself, glancing at his own arms.

“Well, Marco had been known to not have any tallies for the majority of his time with Pops. On the outside it didn’t seem to bother him, but I could tell something was different with him. Only he knows how long he has been alive, though I guessing a long time, and my suspension _had_ been that sometime in his life, maybe even before the Whitebeard Pirates, he had another soulmate or something of that sort.”

“Another soulmate?” Ace questioned

“Yeah,” Thatch solemnly said. “No one but him would really have that experience, being a phoenix that can’t die and all. Anyway, one day it had really bothered me, so I waited til the party that night to launch my plan. I was able to convince Marco to wear some seastone, so that alcohol would have an effect on him.”

“No way! How?” Ace perked up in wonder. After a moment which both of them laughed, Thatch continued.

“I don’t even know myself! After some time drinking, mostly Marco, and some pretending on my part, did I bring the question up.”

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

_The crew around them were parting in earnest, neither Thatch nor Marco who laid a ways away from the more rowdy of the crew remembering the reason for such celebration. Marco clutched a bottle of sake in his right hand, his body weight leaning into his left hand to keep himself somewhat upright. Thatch beside him took small sips of his own bottle, purposefully avoiding complete intoxication._

_They sat in silence, observing the crew and their antics. A smile stayed present on Marco’s face, whether he knew it or not as Thatch kept an eye on him._

Now is the perfect time if I’m going to ask him _, Thatch thought. He wasn’t sure how to phrase it, though with how Marco was acting with the alcohol in him, it might not matter anyway._

_“Hey Marc…” Thatch said, slightly louder than normal in hopes to catch Marco’s attention from the crew and his own thoughts._

_Slowly, Marco turned to watch Thatch, a cue for Thatch to continue._

_“I was wondering, have you ever had tallies before?”_

_For anyone else, the question would be dumb. If there weren’t any tallies visible, then that was that. Marco had always had unnatural calmness to him when they were brought up. His detachment to the topic yet complete understanding about them were enough for Thatch to know Marco was different in some way._

_So in order to question him effectively, he didn’t elaborate, knowing Marco would go one of two ways. He would either dismiss him by laughing at the question or ignoring him completely. Or, he would answer the question head on, no bullshit. Thatch wasn’t sure which he would do. He had never asked something so private and personal to Marco, let alone in an intoxicated state._

_A pause._

_“Yeah, once,” Marco spoke softly, his eyes crinkling and his smile growing at the memories had been brought to the surface._

_“Once?” Thatch asked, clutching at his bottle tightly, waiting, wanting,_ needing _Marco to continue._

_“Her name was August, and she was my best friend.”_

_Marco slowly retold the story of him and August, taking moments of silence between each statement, clearly immersed in past memories, unaware of Thatch diligently listening to every word._

_“We grew up together as siblings, orphans together. We only had each other. Once we were old enough we left to explore the world on our own. I didn’t even have my devil fruit yet.”_

_He explained how they traveled all around, eventually them both getting devil fruits and falling for each other. One day, they had discovered the fact that they were soulmates, though it didn't change a thing, only bringing them closer than before._

_“We began to discover certain properties with my devil fruit, the most recognizable being as she grew older, I didn’t age with her.” Marco’s face began to fall, the smile dimming and Thatch inching closer to him._

_“One day we were getting ready to leave the island we had docked at when the Marines had discovered where we were. We got out to sea and they caught up to us.”_

_Thatch waited for him to continue. Noticing he stayed quiet for longer than normal, he said, “And then?”_

_Marco sighed, collecting himself before continuing._

_“Well, then we had to fight them once they boarded our ship, just the two of us. Normally we could hold our own just fine, but we didn’t account for sea stone bullets they had.”_

_Marco explained at the time this occurred, the bullets had only been a recent development. No way to know. No way to stop what was to happen._

_“I was fighting some of them off on one side of the ship, and by the time I was able to find August, she was near the railing on the opposite side. She…”_

_Marco dropped his sake, it falling to the ground, spilling but not breaking. Marco brought his hands and formed them into fists in front of him. His shoulders hunched over and he caved into himself. Thatch closed the distance between them, bringing his arm to wrap around Marco’s shoulders, careful to not fully envelop Marco, though he had to fight the instinct._

_Marco brought his right hand to clutch onto Thatch’s hand, the other hand painfully gripping his thigh and he tried to control his gasping breaths._

_After gaining some control over his emotions, Marco spoke._

_“She was shot and fell over the edge. I wasn’t quick enough to get her before she hit the water.”_

_Thatch pulled Marco into him, tucking his head to shield him from the world. Marco silently shook with sobs until he fell asleep._

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

“I brought him back to his cabin that night and it ended at that. He hasn’t mentioned it since,” Thatch said, the mood having become solemn.

Ace sat silently, thinking over what he had been told.

Thatch spoke up saying, “Though he didn’t say it, I assume the moment she died, all of the tallies he had from their time vanished. I don’t think he has told anyone that story, not even Pops.”

Ace’s mind continued to race. Thatch excused himself and left Ace alone in his room. With his thoughts.

_Then why would Marco defend him and his blatant dislike for the tallies?_ He thought, getting up to pace.

_Does he know we are soulmates?_

That put a pause in his pacing. It would make some sense. If Marco knew, he wouldn’t want their relationship to change. Though if he didn’t know, why wouldn’t he be as curious as everyone else? Ace knew he was unconventional in his dislike of the tallies. They work as a way to unite soulmates, not tear them apart.

_Should I tell him?_

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Night fell upon the Moby before Ace knew it. He had been so lost in his thoughts that he missed dinner and still had no idea what to do. As he wandered out onto the deck and to the railing, he couldn’t help but run through all the possible outcomes of telling or not telling Marco.

He knew if he didn’t say anything at all, it would eventually be discovered, either by Marco himself or another crewmate who can’t hold their tongue. If that happened, he would be forced to talk about it without composure.

If he chose to bring it up first then he would stay in control by being the one who asks the questions. Who knows the whole truth. While leaving Marco in the dark didn’t sit right with him, until he knew if something like this could work out, he wouldn't risk it.

Sighing, Ace watched the waves and the sun set. The sky faded from oranges and yellows up into a deep blue and purple, some of the stars shining through clouds still in the sky.

He leaned against railing, resting arms along it. After some time and most of the crew heading to bed, Ace heard someone approach him.

“Hey,” a soft voice to his right said.

Ace glanced over to see Marco watching the ocean with him, his blue eyes reflecting in the moonlight. Ace greeted Marco back just as softly, keeping his eyes on him.

They both stayed still, each in their own thoughts but in each other’s company.

A sandwich appeared in Ace’s vision. Without turning, Marco held it up for Ace to take wordlessly.

“Thatch told me you didn’t come by at dinner, so I thought if I caught you I could bring you something,” Marco said as Ace quickly ate the offering.

After clearing up slightly, Ace bumped their shoulders together as a silent thank you, and went back to switching between watching the ocean and glancing back at Marco.

The silence was once again interrupted by Marco.

“Something on your mind, yoi?”

Sighing, Ace said, “Is it that obvious?”

Marco let out a small laugh and glanced towards Ace.

“Well, this is the quietest I have seen you in a while, without being forced.”

Ace grimaced at the instance that Marco was referring to.

“Yeah, that isn’t something I want to relive again...”

Both Marco and Ace laughed, inching closer together without noticing.

After a moment, Marco continued to lock his eyes with Ace’s as a silent push to _explain._

“Fine…” he said, steeling himself to come clean about the tallies. Though his thoughts were running a mile a minute, Ace decided last minute to try a slightly different, and less direct way to approach it.

“If you met your soulmate, would you tell them immediately that you knew?”

Ace waited with bated breath, Marco’s eyes having left the lock, instead watching the ocean. He knew he shouldn’t have started with a question like this, but it came out of his mouth before he could stop it.

_Stupid!_ , he thought. _I’m setting myself up for him to easily find out!_

A pause.

_But would that be so bad?_

“No.”  
Ace slowly blinked, his thoughts halting to digest what Marco said.

“If I told them without any forethought, it could be taken so many ways, yoi. I would wait till it was appropriate and then, yes, I would tell them.”

Ace hummed, not sure how to respond verbally to what had been said. Before he could ask another question, Marco beat him to it.

“Do you want to meet your soulmate, yoi?”

“Yes!” he somewhat gasped out. The response was pushed out of his body as if there was no way to lie. Composing himself, he said, “Yes, I do. I just…”

A few moments passed without Ace continuing.

“You don’t have to explain anything if you don’t want to,” Marco said, waving his arm to show his passiveness towards the topic.

_Why does he do that?_ _Pry! Ask! If you care so much, why don’t you say something._

But they both remained quiet and calm on the outside, the stars gleaming in the sky watching them.

“Do you want to meet your soulmate?” Ace asked, knowing the answer was _yes_.

A smile came upon Marco’s face. Small enough that his eyes didn’t crinkle like before, but just big enough that Ace watched the spark of some unexplored emotion, or an emotion he hadn’t felt in a long time, come across Marco’s eyes, before going back to uncaring.

_But I know you care._

“Of course, yoi. Somewhere out there is my soulmate, and I do want to make them happy. If that means being with me, then I will do it.”

The words _them, they, my soulmate_ frustrated Ace. He wanted to grab Marco and shake the nonsense out of him. Why did he have this lack of care for himself? Selfless to a fault, with nothing left for himself.

A thought struck Ace at that moment, halting his tirade on Marco’s selfcare.

_He doesn’t know._

He didn’t know they were soulmates. If anything, Ace felt even more anxious. His emotions were running wild; he was happy that it confirmed what he thought. He _did_ like Marco. Enough that he _did_ want them to be soulmates. _He_ wanted to show Marco that happiness that he used to have. _He_ wanted to watch as a tally formed on his body when he told him _he loved him._

Ace’s breath was cut off as he watched Marco turn to face him once again. He wanted to tell him. He thought it through, as Marco said he would’ve done, and yes, he needed to tell him.

“I’m going to go back to my room for some shut eye, see you tomorrow, Ace.”

And with that, Marco left the deck, leaving a stunned Ace behind.


	2. Insouciant

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you guys think I should keep trying these shorter stories! I have a few ideas, but wanted to see how it would turn out first before going all out :)

The sun was just shy of rising when Marco woke. He took his time to get ready for the day, knowing the only people awake were those on watch from the night before. He left his room and made his way to the deck, already running through the tasks he needed to finish today.

The sunrise stopped him just before he sat down in the bird’s nest, having let his mind wander enough that he got there by muscle memory.

Marco watched the sun break through the dark sky, still just as beautiful as the first time he watched it rise while out at sea. Letting himself relax with the sunrise, he thought about the previous night and conversation, or lack of, with Ace.

He knew that there was something else going on with Ace, evident in the questions he asked, and his overall delay in reactions. Ace knew something, and wasn’t saying it outright. That wasn’t the problem. Ace knew something, but was holding onto it.

Marco knew all too well what that does to someone. He himself had done just that, up until he decided to indulge Thatch’s questions and sake that one night long ago.

Thatch had been surprised to say the least. Marco knew better than to tell Thatch his retelling was done purposefully, needing to confess to someone. He knew the cook would try to approach him and he would never be strong enough to talk about it.

Although it didn’t free him from the pain, it had given him back some of his heart that left him on that day.

He knew he needed to talk to Ace before he kept himself in the same prison Marco did for so long.

By the time Marco had realized he spaced out, the sun was well above the horizon, its yellows and oranges illuminating the sky and crewmates beginning to mingle about the deck.

Marco sat down and began his work, choosing to once again stay in the crow’s nest instead of his office to wait for a certain fire user to come out.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Ace grumbled to himself as he made his way to the mess hall, grouchy from his lack of sleep. After Marco had left him with his mouth gaping on the deck, he went to his room only to be kept awake with his thoughts running wild.

He continually ran through their conversation, trying, and failing, to understand what had happened. One thing was for sure,

Marco had no idea. Or, he did and was waiting for something, though he didn’t know what.

Ace sighed as he ate his breakfast, slower than normal with its lack of gusto. He waved at crewmates who greeted him in passing, though mostly kept to himself. He didn’t know if he should be glad that he was still in control of the situation, though his control seemed to lessen the longer this went on. The realization that he did like Marco had changed the game.

Thanking whatever God there was, Ace finished his breakfast without Thatch or another commander cornering him into talking.

After collecting himself, he made his way to the deck. With a renewed energy and mission, Ace was on a hunt to find and throttle Thatch. He started this whole mess with his offhand comment, and it was time for him to feel the wrath of Ace’s built up anger.

Making his way on the deck, Ace was immediately about to tell that Marco was up in the crow’s nest. He stopped briefly, before scanning the deck for Thatch. A strange feeling in his chest built up, but Ace ignored it as he found Thatch and Izou talking together across the deck from him.

As if he could sense Ace’s stare, Izou turned and looked in Ace’s direction, Thatch still obvious to his fate.

Ace let his head tilt slightly down, his eyes still locked on Thatch as he strode towards the duo.

Izou smirked as he tapped Thatch’s shoulder and gestured to the incoming fire user.

Looking at Izou in confusion, Thatch followed the path of his sight to see Ace only a few feet. Without stopping, Ace reached out his hand, grabbed Thatch by his pompadour and dragged him off to the side, fully knowing the pain Thatch would feel, emotionally and physically.

“ _ Oi! _ Let go of my hair, you brat!” Thatch yelled out, more distressed over his hair than what was to come.

Izou giggled behind them as Ace let go of his hair and crossed his arms, giving Thatch a fierce glare.

“Sheesh…” Thatch said as he tried to fix his now wilted hair, ignoring Ace’s glare and pouting at the lack of improvement.

Ace slapped his hands away from the hair and went back to crossing his arms. Thatch then looked back at Ace in confusion. Glancing at Izou, Thatch slowly backed up, arms beginning to raise in surrender.

“I’m not sure what I did  _ this _ time...but I’m,” he paused to search for the word, “...Sorry?”

Ace took a step towards Thatch, closing the distance that Thatch had inched back, his face remaining the same; a hard glare that was far from wavering.

Neither party spoke. Thatch let out some nervous chuckles, all while Ace’s glare continued to darken and Izou passively watched.

Finally biting the bullet, Ace sighed loudly, closing his eyes in exacerbation and letting his arms relax to his side.

“We need to talk about you know  _ who _ and you know  _ what _ .”

Hearing this, Izou let out a little gasp, excited about whatever had happened since their last talk, while Thatch’s eyebrows had shot up in surprise.

“You said something to him?” Thatch asked quietly. He quickly glanced around trying to find the blonde in question, only to see Ace jerk his head up slightly, gesturing to the crow’s nest. Nodding in acknowledgement, Thatch grinned saying,

“Well, let’s head to the mess hall then, hm?”

After some snacks and a thorough explanation of the previous night’s events, Ace let himself sag against the table, waiting for their reactions. Both Izou and Thatch had been silent thus far and only nodded during his retelling. Ace, being accustomed to constant interruptions and comments whenever telling a story, thought the silence was different, new.

_ Though if it is a good new, we’ll have to see. _

“So you were confronted and tried, unsuccessfully, to question what he knows? That sound right?” Thatch said beside Ace.

Ace nodded his head that still laid on the table, and relaxed at the hand that patted his back.

“I’m not sure asking rhetorical questions was the correct way to integrate him.” Izo pointed out.

_ This is Marco we are talking about _ , the voice in his head laughed at him.

“So what now, are you going to tell him or wait?”

Ace had left out his discovery of an actual attraction to Marco. How the tallies on his skin being from Marco wasn’t as much of a coincidence as he originally thought. The more he dwelled on it, the less angry he was with Thatch being the catalyst, and the more angry he was at himself.

_ How could I not have seen it? _ , he thought.

It had been clear that at least the commanders, if not most of the crew, had seen through Marco and his relationship as brothers and saw something more.

“Like I said yesterday,” Thatch said to Ace’s right, “We aren’t here to pressure youー”

“I think I love him.” Ace interrupted him, lifting his head to lock eyes with Thatch. He left no room for questioning; his voice so sure of his statement that he was almost confident in how he said it.

Thatch’s mouth made an ‘O’ and before he or Izou could fully react, Ace continued. He knew he needed their help, but more importantly to get this off his chest.

“While your meddling wasn’t something I had wanted,” a look in Thatch’s direction, “It helped me realize some things. Marco… he really does mean a lot to me.” Admitting it outloud, Ace knew a blush was growing on his face.

“The tallies, while they don’t dictate someone’s decision about their significant other, they do mean  _ something _ . I had taught myself that they were meaningless, so when I found Marco as my soulmate, I denied it.”

Ace sighed, “Truthfully, I didn’t want it for myself. To ruin another relationship, to have someone like Marco tied to me, being a burden on him…”   
Ace thought of the small smiles they shared, the oblivious lack of stress on the normally tired looking man. It had only been himself stopping his own happiness. There was no sign whatsoever that Marco saw him as a burden, rather the opposite. The only thing stopping the happiness he could have with Marco, and giving Marco, was himself.

“After talking to him, though at the time it seemed as though nothing had come from it, I realized that I need Marco, and…” he glanced down at the tallies on his arms, “The tallies were just another piece pointing me in that direction.”

Allowing a smile to come across his face, Ace tilted his head and said,

“So, my nosey brothers. What should I do now?”

Hugs were given, smiles and small laughs shared, and a plan hatched between the three to ‘win’ Marco over was made, though Thatch and Izou had made clear that Marco had been won over long ago. With a final threat and smack to Thatch, reminding him that Ace was still fake irritated at the situation, and pushful shove from Izou, Ace made his way onto the deck to speak to Oyaji before finding Marco.

Pops was watching the crew, sake in his hand and nurses frowning at a distance. Seeing Ace, he seemed to pause in what he was doing. Without waiting for Ace to reach him, he made his way into his cabin, knowing Ace would follow shortly.

Once both parties were settled, Ace took a breath before once again explaining what had happened the previous day. This time he didn’t leave out anything; the confusion he had felt, his distaste for tallies up until now, and his feelings for Marco. There was no point in lying or leaving out parts with Pops, he would know and make Ace admit it eventually anyway.

He smiled as he told him the plan that he, Thatch, and Izou had made for him to confront Marco, laughing with Oyaji at each ridiculous idea Thatch made that he had to veto.

“Well, my son,” Pops laid his hand against Ace’s shoulder, gripping it only slightly as he continued, “To know that both of my son’s will become happier is enough for this old man.”

Ace’s eyes watered and his smile wavered at that statement. He grabbed Oyaji’s arm back, squeezing it in silent thanks.

Just as he was about to ask about his thoughts on how Marco might react to their plan, the door was pushed open quickly, causing them to stare at the haggard form of Thatch panting at the door.

Shouts were heard behind Thatch, as he said, “We are under attack!”

And with that, all three men left the room to confront those who dared attack the Whitebeard pirates.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Marco had gotten more work done this morning than he had in the previous days, even with his mind on autopilot. The mundane work was calming and without worrying about making mistakes, he could dwell on other things.

He had immediately noticed the lack of Ace’s presence for most of the morning, seeing him leave with Thatch and Izou before coming back. Even before he had the thought to come down from his place above the deck, Ace had already left with Pops to his cabin.

Marco had to fight the urge to question the fire user. He knew that he would come to him and explain when he was ready, or Thatch would spill before he could.

As Marco organized his things, having finished all the work he brought with him, his head shot up, looking beyond the crow’s nest. A second sense told him  _ caution _ .

_ Something is coming _ , he thought, setting down his things to properly look out.

_ Boom! _

The deck shook with the force of a cannon hitting its side, and just like that, those on the deck got into defensive positions. Seeing Thatch’s body disappear in the direction of Oyaji’s cabin, Marco began planning how to fight against the pirates across the sea from them.

Jumping to the edge of the crow’s nest, Marco surveyed the deck. The enemy ship was slowly coming closer to the Moby, continuing to fire cannons every few seconds.

Transforming himself into his hybrid form, Marco flapped his phoenix wings once before taking flight towards the ship.

Marco flew till he could hover just above the ship, watching as they rushed around to prepare to try and board the Moby, and try they will. Marco took note of the captain and his stronger members who chose to stand at the bow instead of aiding the rest of the crew.

_ They aren’t going to fight? Seems suspicious. _

The captain made eye contact with the phoenix, scoffing and smiling. With a glare in response, Marco flew back to the Moby. 

He landed on the deck just in front of Pops and Ace, the commanders gathering to discuss what they should do.

Relaying what he saw, a plan was made. Marco saw many of the commanders begin to smirk, excited for some action after sailing so long without a stop.

Marco himself was going to sit back, preferring to observe with Pops and intervene when needed than fight on the frontlines. He had long since grown out of the pure adrenaline to fight, but found pride in watching his siblings successes.

Without wasting any time, everyone dispersed. Marco made his way with Oyaji to his seat and watched with focused eyes each and every battle going on around him. His eyes flickered around rapidly to keep track of his siblings, his calm stance never wavering despite his hyperfocus.

Though the commanders had tried to prevent the enemy crew from boarding the deck, the combination of cannon fire and the sheer amount of pirates that were attacking on the frontline pushed them onboard.

From there, the crew divided and conquered, slowly picking off those who came aboard with ease. Marco narrowed his eyes at the forms of the captain and his crewmates that were clearly the strongest remaining on their ship, no movement from where Marco initially saw them. They smiled and spoke to each other, as if ignoring the battle ongoing, with the strongest man in the world’s crew.

Holding back the urge to deal with them himself, Marco went back to watching his siblings, though he kept an eye out for the captain.

Thatch and Ace tag teamed a large group of the enemy pirates, laughing as they made a competition out of it.

A ways away, Izou began aiming at the ship’s cannons, but more specifically those firing them. Each successful shot left Izou with a smirk, and Jozu who was covering for him smiling.

Across the deck, the battles began to die out when Marco got the same feeling earlier, that something else was about to happen, something that posed trouble and worry.

Looking around, Marco couldn’t pinpoint anything out. He began scanning the enemies deck when he saw it.

The ugly captain’s sly grin, his other mates laughing alongside him.

The glint of a gun.

A small projectile shoot out.

_ Ace. _

The bullet hit Ace and he crumbled to the ground, passing out before being able to express the agony he felt. Thatch immediately caught him and yelled for help to bring him to the infirmary.

_ Seastone _ , Marco realized as Ace was unable to bounce back.

With narrowed eyes, Marco transformed his arms to wings and darted to the ship and the captain who dared hit one of his loved ones.

Wasting no time, Marco dealt with the scum and his subordinates, making sure to inflict as much pain as he could with the swipe of his talons. He left the weak men cowering as his siblings rounded them up for Oyaji to decide their fate.

Dropping back onto the Moby, he spotted Thatch outside the infirmary, and sped walk towards the man knowing he would have the answers he needed.

“How bad?” Marco asked, noting the expression Thatch wore on his face.

_ Fear. _

Sighing, Thatch said, “The nurses said the bullet entered really close to his heart and are currently in surgery to try and remove it.”

A pause.

“They… aren’t sure if he’ll make it yet.”

Marco’s face was tilted towards the ground, shadowed and avoiding Thatch’s watchful eyes on him. After a moment, Thatch continued.

“I’m sorry,” he reached out to lay a comforting hand, but retracted it as Marco moved out of its path. “You rest, I’ll get you if the situation changes.”   
Normally one to fight, Marco remained silent. His eyes were locked on a single thing.

His arm.

His arm full of tallies, normally standing out bold against his skin, were flickering.

_ Flickering. _

Not once had they stayed their normal, consistent color throughout his one sided conversation with Thatch. The bold black only had a faint tinge now, growing fainter with each flicker. His body began to involuntarily shake with the implications. No one but himself knew what this meant. No one but himself seemed to live through it after all.

The flickering of the tallies meant a soulmate was dying, or close to death if they managed to survive.  _ August _ hadn’t, and he was witness to the flickering fade into nothingness; his arms going from completely filled to blank in a moment's time.

He clutched his arms, as if to will the tallies, no, will the person he  _ knew  _ was connected to them to  _ survive _ .

Thatch caught on quickly, letting out a small curse before grabbing Marco and leading him to his room. He dropped him off, cursed to himself again, before promising the unresponsive man to be back. With a now shut door, Marco was let alone, his eyes having not left his arm.

Only when he saw droplets falling on his arm, did he realize tears were streaming down his face. He made no move to wipe them.

_ Ace _ was fighting for his life, and Marco could do nothing.

_ Useless _ , he thought.

_ His soulmate _ , who had been obviously trying to see if he felt the same the previous night, was now fighting for his life and Marco could do nothing but pray to a God he didn’t believe in that he would survive.

_ Survive _ so that Marco could tell him that, yes, he did love him. That he wanted to wait for Ace to be ready rather than push his own wants. To be able to hold him. To tell him that he was loved. Convince Ace that he could be loved.

Fate seemed to laugh at Marco’s misery, giving him the curse of immortality to only watch his loved ones perish in front of him, unable to do anything.  _ What good was immortality if the ones you lived for always left?,  _ he thought bitterly.

Sobs were ripping out of him with no control. They shook his body, increasing as the tallies continued flickering. He  _ knew _ that he couldn’t survive this again. It was August all over again, the hopelessness, the uselessness, the devastation.

Lost in his thoughts, a common occurrence recently, he was unable to notice his brother’s reentry with Izou in tow. They paused, watching as their brother broke down in a way not many had seen before. Thatch moved forward, bringing Marco into his arms and clutching him tightly. He slowly rocked him back and forth, as it was the only comfort he could lend to him.

Izou closed the door to leave them some privacy and began to tidy Marco’s already tidy room, jittery at seeing the normally deadpan man expressing such emotion. Expressing such agony.

Thatch couldn’t help but watch Marco’s forearm with his brother, which was clutched close to his chest. Seeing the flickers, knowing what they meant, his fears increased, for both of his brothers. He had to actively stop himself from imagining the day the same might happen to him for Izou, or Izou for him.

Marco calmed down slowly, still hyper focused on his arm, but silent except for his breaths that were still weak imitations for breathing. Looking up and locking eyes with Izou, Thatch nodded silently and Izou left.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

The following day had left the crew only slightly relieved. Ace had survived the night, but that seemed to be the only good out of the situation. Marco had yet to come out after being brought to his room.

Most were exhausted, having slept little and hope leaving with the passing time yet no answers. Whitebeard had kept a serious expression on his face, dividing out tasks to distract those on the deck, unable to help his children in the way he knew they needed.

With each hour that passed without word about Ace and without Marco’s emergence from his self exile, he grew more anxious and worried. Thatch had given him a detailed explanation of what went on yesterday, but has since been locked out of Marco’s room and denied access through silence.

The nurses had finished their surgery, though it was only a waiting game if Ace would wake. The prolonged exposure to the seastone left him weak and in a coma like state. Thus, he could only wake up naturally.

While Whitebeard wasn’t worried about Ace having the strength to wake, he did worry about the aftershock this had left many in the crew. Ace was plenty strong and had the will to wake up, though there was no telling  _ when _ that would be.

As he and most of the crew had suspected, Marco and Ace were soulmates. The thought should bring a smile to his face, his children beginning brought together through their makeshift family. Instead, it left him cold. The reaction Marco was having was brought another depth to the situation, one he knew only Marco could recover from by himself.

He never had interrogated Marco about all of his past adventures, as his life as a Whitebeard pirate was meant to be a new life, free from the past. Though, he had suspected that the lack of soulmate tallies, with how long he had lived, would imply something else. Something Marco kept close to his heart and with a closed mouth.

And now, Marco was living through another heartbreak.

Closing his eyes in an attempt to calm his thoughts, he soon felt the presence of one of the nurses in front of him, causing his eyes to snap open.

“Ace has become conscious,” the nurse said, not bothering to hide her smile at the news.

Whitebeard thanked her and began to laugh heartily, relieved that their fire user had graced them with waking so soon. Some of his sons came quickly over to him, confused at the sudden laughter during such a grim time.

Once most commanders had wandered over, save a certain phoenix, he relayed the news and the crew broke out in cheers. Nodding to Thatch to try and coax out Marco, Whitebeard made his way to the infirmary to greet Ace with his sons.

✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦✦

Laying on his bed, Marco’s gaze at the ceiling was unfocused, as was his thoughts. After Thatch had left yesterday, he locked his door and laid on his bed. Once he forcefully tore his eyes from his arm, he began to stare at the ceiling as a way to distract himself. He hadn’t looked since, unable to watch the flicker anymore, scared of the moment it would disappear. Instead he took time to make note of the groves in the wood above him, their changes in color, and texture. At some point he had run out of observations and opted to just let his mind glaze into nothingness as his eyes remained on the wood above him.

He heard faint knocks and voices throughout the day, but hadn’t had the energy to get up and face them. He wasn’t sure how he’d react, and so he chose to lay on his bed and block out his emotions. Not that different from his normal method in dealing with his overwhelming feelings.

Blocking them out since he  _ knew _ he couldn’t face them, not now, not ever.

Thatch’s voice right outside his door and the knock accompanying it roused Marco from his thoughts, or lack of. Watching the ceiling come into focus, he took his time to sit up and make his way to the door.

As he opened the door, he was greeted with Thatch’s grinning face, something not seen since before the enemy attack. Without saying a word, Marco shut the door behind himself and made his way with Thatch to the infirmary.

After having sped walk (read as run), Marco saw many of his brothers and Oyaji outside the infirmary. Many turned at Marco’s entrance, moving out of the way til he stood right outside of the closed door he knew Ace was behind. With a glance and nod from Pops, Marco pushed the door open.

He turned his back to the occupant to shut the door, staring at the wood, his shoulders tense.

“Hey,” Ace spoke softly behind him.

Slowly turning, Marco set his face into an unreadable expression and looked at Ace, their eyes immediately locking. He walked towards the chair seated directly next the bed, feeling Ace’s eyes following his every move.

Once seated, he looked back up at Ace, looking up with his eyes first and having to tilt his head up like a child looking up at their parents.

He had yet to utter a word, afraid that it wasn’t real.

Ace watched him, his face calm. After a moment, he reached out, purposefully cautious of the speed and how he approached. His hand touched the side of Marco’s face, just along his jawline. Once he had deemed his delicate touch was met with no resistance, did he then lay his whole hand along his face.

Marco not in control of himself, leaned into the touch. Realizing what he did, his eyes darted to Ace’s face, watching as his eyes lit up and crinkle with the blinding smile on his face. 

Allowing his eyes to shut, Marco relaxed with the touch and the tension slowly left his body.

Both stayed quiet for a while, enjoying the silence and each other’s company.

“I knew the whole time, yoi.” Marco said, not moving from his position.

With a hum of acknowledgement meant as encouragement from Ace, Marco continued, “I knew from the moment I spoke to you about why we call Oyaji our father. Seeing you smile, becoming second division commander… I didn’t want to impose and drop something unexpected on you.”

Marco sat up, trying to ignore the way he felt as Ace’s hand disconnected with his face.

“It was stupid, yoi. An excuse I had made for myself because I was too afraid of what it would mean. I knew I loved you, that was the easy part. But, then what?” A sigh.

“ _ August _ ,” the name was whispered by Ace, concern clear on his face.

With a nod, Marco said, “When I told Thatch about her it was all but an accident, yoi. Once I knew he caught onto what I did, I expected him to tell you.”

Thoughts overloaded Marco's head each time he spoke, chastising himself.  _ Coward. Waiting for Thatch to tell him because you couldn’t yourself.  _ Marco couldn’t disagree with that, choosing to wait for everything rather than fight for himself, just once.

It was easier to fight for everyone else. That way it hurt less when he himself got hurt, having not tried in the first place. 

“Stop.” Marco looked back up, his eyes having fallen to the floor unintentionally. Ace’s face was serious, the smile long gone as he spoke.

“I know you’re berating yourself, so just stop and listen to me, okay?”

Seeing Marco nod, Ace let out a small huff.

“I understand why you did it, and you were right. I  _ did _ need time. I  _ did _ need to be the one to come to you. You knew me well enough to know that, even though you doubt it.”

He then grabbed Marco’s hands into his own, letting his thumb run across Marco’s knuckles. The warmth from their fires seemed to increase with the touch.

“I want this, and I know you want this too, even if you are afraid of it.” Letting out a small laugh, Ace said, “Though I’d never imagined this would be my wake up call.”

Ace’s eyes snapped towards Marco’s face when he felt tremors from said man. His eyes shadowed, Marco’s shoulders shook in silence. Ace brought Marco’s hands closer to his body, clutching them tighter.

This seemed to only increase the silent suffering. Marco, unable to hide the shaking, bite his lips in an attempt to prevent his voice from escaping.

Though, once he felt Ace lightly place a kiss on his knuckles, all sense of control left him and he collapsed in on himself. Sobs racked his body, the shaking increasing tenfold. He was left gasping for breath, just as he had been when the tallies were flickering on his arms. Through blurred vision due to tears, Marco could see the solid tallies littering his arms and Ace’s gentle gaze watching him.

Marco squeezed Ace’s hands, grounding himself as he started to calm down.  _ Ace is here, with me,  _ he told himself until his sobs were reduced to short hiccups and deep breaths.

Finally able to speak, Marco said, quietly, “I thought I would lose you before I could even have you.”

Ace dropped their hands, pulling Marco into his body with a hug, wrapping his arms around Marco’s neck. “You thought I would be done in so easily? Psst.” Ace said, trying to lighten the mood.

Marco wrapped his arms around Ace’s middle, not responding to Ace’s rhetorical question for a moment.

He slightly started to shake again, saying, “The tallies were flickering, just like they did with August, and I… I didn’t know what to do… Iー”

Wanting to stop Marco from spiraling again, Ace interrupted, “I know, it’s okay! Not a good time to joke, sorry.”

They sat together still clutched tightly.

“It’s okay,” Marco spoke, loudly and more stable than before.

After a while, he let go of Ace, and they both separated. Marco was lost in Ace’s eyes, and before letting his inner thoughts scare him, he held Ace’s face in his hands and leaned in to kiss his soulmate.

After they separated, Marco let a smile graze his face, “I’ve been waiting long enough, don’t you think, yoi?”

Sharing a laugh together, they held each other, with no intention of letting go anytime soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was that good? I wasn't sure if the characters were acting too OOC, so let me know! I think I might try to do a few small stories here and there, cause I love my boys! Let me know if you have any ideas!


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